Now it's the guys' turn: Last week, the guys got narrowed down to 28 -- though Randy Jackson told them there'd be one more round of cuts. Now, they're all brought back on stage to learn their fate.

Nicki Minaj says the judges have not completed their deliberations

Adam Sanders sings a Celine Dion song but asks that the band lower it a step. That impresses Keith Urban: "He knows what he's doing," Urban whispers.

No matter, though, it's still too over the top -- except when it's just under the note.

Next up, Josh Holiday, who wants to sing Georgia on My Mind. It's a little too polished for my taste, well sung but show-bizzy. (Still, I'll take him over Sanders.) Plus, his pants are too tight -- he rips them from knee to crotch during a deep bend.

"It's hard being cut at the same spot two years in a row," says Leathers, who made some fans last year, too. "It makes you question if you're good enough."

***

The last cut is the deepest: "We've got 24 hopefuls on the stage," says Ryan Seacrest. "We've got to get it down to 20."

So Randy Jackson calls some young women, including Lauren Mink, to the front of the stage and tells them, "Good luck on your journey wherever it takes you."

But he's not quite down even yet. He asks Stephanie Schimel to sing one more time, with the band. So she's clearly not a judges' favorite -- even though Keith Urban kind of likes her. She takes her chance with Phillip Phillips' Home and seems to do better than she did the last time she sang.

Rachel Hale also has to sing again, after flubbing her solo performance. But her personality and her other performances have kept her around. She sings Undone -- to my ears, she's over-singing, especially given some of the other performances we've heard tonight, but it might be enough to get her through.

Jackson calls Schimel forward. "It's the end of the road for you, baby -- you're not going to make it," he tells her.

***

Why so serious? Ashlee Feliciano isn't feeling well, but she knows how high the stakes are. Unfortunately, her intonation's just a bit off in places -- though it's oh so close -- which may be just enough to send her home, given tonight's other performances.

"That was a very surprising ending -- you threw in some high falsettos," Randy Jackson says.

Like Feliciano, many of the woman are taking a very serious tone, which turns out to be a bad decision.

Melinda Ademi comes to the rescue, ratcheting up the groove with a version of Jessie J's Price Tag that has the judges dancing in their seats.

"It's effortless, it's clear, it's energetic," Keith Urban. He's enjoyed her "light" throughout the competition. "It's just me, but I think you've got a good shot."

Not sure why Kree Harrison's still here. Randy voted "no" on her original audition, and Nicki Minaj didn't like her group-day performance. She's singing Grace Potter's Stars, in memory of her parents.

While she may have had her problems in this competition, tonight's not one of them. Her performance gives Keith Urban chill bumps. Or, as Jennifer Lopez would have called them, "goosies."

"Can I just say, I fought for you a few times, and now I know why," Keith Urban tells her.

Mariah Carey adds, "There's something that feels genuine about you as a performer."

Nicki Minaj makes it three: "I feel like today you became a star in front of me."

Guess she's in, huh?

So's Melinda, and Lauren Mink. That's it from this group. Ashlee Feliciano's out, as is Briana Oakley.

***

Welcome to the boom town: Up next, it's one of the singers I've been wishing had more face time: Shubha Vedula, who takes on a Mariah Carey tune in front of Carey. And she nails it, on every level.

Juliana Chahayed goes with the Fleetwood Mac/Dixie Chicks' Landslide, which is one of Nicki Minaj's favorite songs.

Can Kez Ban keep up the girls' success streak? And will a trip to the mall with Zoanette Johnson help?

"This song is very dear to my heart, and it is an original," she tells the judges. "In fact, my very favorite original - ever."

Despite its flamenco influence, however, it's neither as good as Angela Miller's nor as entertaining as Johnson's.

"Well, Kez Ban, we appreciate your artistry and we salute your artistry, but we're going to discuss it and get back to you," Nicki Minaj tells her. Doesn't take long, though: Her journey ends here.

"I'm a square peg in a round hole around here, but my mom loves this show and I wanted to make her proud," she says. She'd be happy to stay on, even as a runner, she says. So Ryan Seacrest gets her a boom mic.

***

The diva to end all divas: So we've seen three of the strongest semifinalist candidates American Idol has had in a while.

Now it's time for Zoanette Johnson, who made up a song on stage yesterday. She sits down behind the drums and begins a wildly scatted, seemingly improvised song about her American Idol experience. And then, suddenly, she stops

"Slow it down! C'mon guys! I need this to be right, y'all" She sings the background singers the rhythm they're supposed to be singing, then she starts back in.

It's absolutely insanity, but she's got the whole room dancing.

"I think people are going to be looking at this for years," Mariah Carey says.

"I am bowing down at your feet today," Nicki Minaj says.

It was absolute insanity, but it was also the most entertaining bit of comedy -- maybe ever -- on the show. She's got to go through.

And she does, along with Miller, Glover, Arthur and one other singer. But Kiera Lanier is history.

***

The anointed one. It's been six years since a woman won American Idol, the producers remind us as tonight's show open. It's one step short of begging: Please vote for a woman this year! C'mon, please?

The women do their solo Hollywood performances tonight, and Angela Miller has decided to perform an original -- always a high-risk/high-reward decision.

"This song is about being set free from baggage and the weight that you carry from hard times," Miller says to introduce You Set Me Free. It's a lovely piano ballad that makes judge Keith Urban exclaim, "Good Lord!" Randy Jackson agrees: "Wow. Wow. Wow."

I can't remember a time Idol has kept the judges' mics live during a performance.

"If that was recorded right there, I would play that in my car," Urban says. "That was just a beautiful song."

Nicki Minaj tells Miller that, before this performance, she wasn't one of the top contenders in their minds.

Now, she's the girl to beat.

Candice Glover seems up to the challenge, with a smokin' hot version of Alicia Keys' Girl on Fire.

"You took it and did your own thing with it, in such a powerful way that it sounded like a big, massive record," Urban tells her.

Janelle Arthur goes with an understated version of the Randy Travis/Carrie Underwood hit I Told You So -- a good choice for the round, but given the two previous performances, it may put her behind in the competition. Because she's not just singing against Miller and Glover, she's singing against Carrie Underwood, and I don't know that there'd be any reason to listen to Arthur's version over Underwood's.